The technology group Wärtsilä strengthens its service offering by acquiring Trident B.V., a Netherland based company specialised in underwater ship maintenance, inspection, and repair services. Through the acquisition Wärtsilä becomes the first global operator in the underwater services market. The acquisition is estimated to be closed in January 2018.

Wärtsilä has a long history in providing underwater services through partners. With this acquisition, the company builds in-house competence, captures the full potential of services’ product synergies, and strengthens its position in the market.

As a result, the acquisition enables the integration of Trident’s services with Eniram’s analytics. Wärtsilä expands its ‘vessel-as-a-service’ value offering to achieve maximum fuel savings by optimising hull cleaning cycles. Eniram is a Wärtsilä company focusing on providing the maritime industry with energy management technology to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

The enterprise value of the transaction is EUR 17.5 million and an additional EUR 3.5 million earn-out, based on the business performance in the coming years. The turnover of Trident is approximately EUR 9 million.

Trident Group, established in 1993, is a leading innovative underwater service supplier specialising in repair, overhaul, and maintenance of propulsion systems, hull, and machinery. With fully equipped workshops and certified personnel in the Netherlands, Italy, and Canary Islands, the company serves customers around the globe.

“This acquisition supports Wärtsilä’s strategy on several fronts, starting from Wärtsilä’s purpose to enable sustainable societies with smart technologies. Reduced fuel consumption, efficiency improvements and higher utilisation rates are always on the top of the operators’ agenda,” says Tamara de Gruyter, Vice President, Area North Europe and Propulsion System Services, Wärtsilä Services. “At the same time, environmental issues are becoming an integral part of customers´ business planning. Trident is a pioneer in the development of environmentally sound solutions for example hull cleaning,” de Gruyter continues.

“We are very excited to join Wärtsilä,” says Managing Director Adrie Huijbregts, Trident B.V. “We have identified several synergies between the companies, such as the ability to develop more specific products due to increased knowledge, and thus provide an even more enhanced offering to our customers,” he continues.

Trident and Wärtsilä have previously co-operated in research and development. One result of this co-operation has been the jointly developed Wärtsilä-Trident Thruster preservation bag.

Reference: wartsila.com